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Ghost in the Shell 1995, dir. Oshii Mamoru

Ghost in the Shell 1995, dir. Oshii Mamoru. The Ghost in the Shell Franchise. Shirow Masamune's Ghost in the Shell manga (mahn-gah), first published 1989. Two anime films, Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004);

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Ghost in the Shell 1995, dir. Oshii Mamoru

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  1. Ghost in the Shell 1995, dir. Oshii Mamoru

  2. The Ghost in the Shell Franchise • Shirow Masamune's Ghost in the Shell manga (mahn-gah), first published 1989. • Two anime films, Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004); • Also, re-mastered Ghost in the Shell 2.0 in Blu-Ray (2009) • Manga sequels, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface (2002); & Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor (2003).

  3. The Ghost in the Shell Franchise • Two anime tv series, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex & Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG, & film based on the tv series: Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society; w/ 3D version out soon. • Video games for PlayStation, PS2, and PS Portable. Action figures, etc. • Dreamworks is working on a 3-D live action version of the original manga. • The Wachowski brothers have noted on the influence of the first Ghost in the Shell film on The Matrix.

  4. Ghost in the Shell • Different from big Hollywood sci-fi films. Different how?

  5. Ghost in the Shell: Gender? • Compare to gender portrayals in Hwd Sci-Fi: • Male cyborg bodies of RoboCop, T2, Iron Man, etc. • or even Neo in The Matrix. • But let’s compare:

  6. Hollywood: “Hard” Male Bodies

  7. Ghost in the Shell: Gender? • Hollywood Male Action Figures: • Ego Ideal: Identification w/ idealized, powerful male figures (superheroes). • In Hwd, Body/Self boundaries reinforced, or literally armored. • In Ghost, powerful female body (before Lara Croft) of Major Kusanagi Motoko, but also a certain vulnerability.

  8. Ghost in the Shell: Bodies & Ghosts • Kusanagi’s female body is shown to us again and again), but also a cyborg: • Her body is technological, manufactured, not the product of human reproduction. • (What are we to make, then, of her reference to “that time of the month”? Sexuality, reproduction?). • Bodies treated in Ghost as “puppets” or “dolls,” to be manipulated, used. • Yet, Ghosts (souls?) do not seem immune to manipulation either. Ghost hacking, memories rewritten . . .

  9. Kusanagi (& Puppet Master): Simulated, technological life; but more than simply “agent” or tool of humans. Not under control of human "creators." But no longer seen as monstrous, a threat to humanity. Suggestion of technological evolution: Ghost in the Shell: Sympathetic Cyborgs

  10. Evolutionary "tree" on wall during tank battle. Cf. evolution of humans in Akira, other anime films. This evolution is cast as moving beyond (human?), transcending present world/reality (the Net as new world). Similar sense of evolution/ transcendence in The Matrix. But different result? Ghost in the Shell: Evolution

  11. Becoming One . . . With the Net • Both Kusanagi & Neo become something more than what they were. Limitless possibilities suggested. • At end of Ghost, "And where shall I go now? The net is vast and limitless." • (Similarly: Neo speaks of a "world without borders.”) • Kusanagi: merges with other technological being: male/female (sexual?) union (wedding chant), death (of body?), and rebirth. • "Reborn" in child's body. • Rebirth = transcending human?

  12. The human self and its borders • In Ghost, though, rebirth or transcendence seems different than in Hollywood films, including Matrix. • It is the self that is seen as "limiting": desire to move out of individual body, merge with other.

  13. Beyond the Human Self? • Kusanagi's merger with Puppet-Master is described as overcoming the limitations of "me," of the self. • Of the human?

  14. Diversity and the Self • Merger, rather than mere copying, adds "diversity.” • Kusanagi discussed importance of "diversity" of her team earlier. • "diversity" = term applied to biological populations, not individuals. • Becoming “more than” an individual (but retaining “me”?) • A multiple/diverse identity? A connected or networked identity? • A very different sense of connection/network, than with the Borg. • In contrast, Neo's rebirth/transcendence of the limits of the individual self seems to result in an even more powerful Self (the One). Superhuman?

  15. Seeing Beyond "Reality" • I Corinthians, 11-12: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. • Cf. Plato's Allegory of the Cave (an obvious source for The Matrix), where prisoners see only shadows which they take for reality. Plato calls these shadow-images "simulacra" or simulations. • In each, the appearance (simulation?) of reality is deceptive or partial. A greater knowledge or truth is presumed to exist beyond what we perceive.

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